NEWS OF THE WEEK:

A Liberian woman makes Power Gari, a fortified cassava porridge made by Just.

A VEGAN SOLUTION TO WORLD HUNGER

Hampton Creek, the blessed-by-Bill Gates, Silicon Valley company which brings us vegan mayonnaise, now has a new venture: slowing and maybe stopping malnutrition in famine-plagued Africa. Hampton Creek, which has changed its name to Just, is marketing a fortified cassava porridge called Power Gari on that continent. Just hopes Power Gara will increase Africans’ intake of key vitamins and minerals. According to an article in the Washington Post, the product tastes good and the company’s trial launch in Liberia has been successful. Just says that within two years, they hope to have Power Gari in 15 African countries. DxE likes this WAY better than the Heifer Project which attempts to end hunger on the backs of animals. (Washington Post, Feb. 23, 2018)

ON THE BULLFIGHTING FRONT

Will bullfighting end in Columbia? Columbia is one of the eight countries in the world – Spain, Ecuador, Mexico, Venezuela, France, Peru, Portugal – where bullfighting is still allowed. With attendance down at bullfighting events in that country and animal rights activists out in force, the practice, once universally believed to be an essential part of Columbian culture and tradition, is under pressure. The country’s legislature decided to force Columbian courts to consider the matter this year and to either abolish bullfighting or declare it legal. (The Nation, Feb. 23, 2018)

RESCUED PIG KILLED AND EATEN

A Vietnamese pot bellied pig named Molly, who was rescued by the Canadian SPCA from a hoarding situation and nursed back to health, was adopted out by a Vancouver Island family. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the family was having difficulties training Molly and ended up killing and eating her. The SPCA, horrified, said the family should have just brought her back instead of taking that action. That family has been banned from adopting any animal from the SPCA ever again. (CBC News, Feb. 23, 2018)

TALE OF TWO VOGUE EDITORS

The editor of Vogue Japan, Anna Dello Russo, withdrew all her fur coats from her archive auction at Christie’s Milan and instead donated them to PETA. PETA intends to use the coats for historical displays or as bedding for sick or injured sanctuary animals. “The fashion community is moving away from fur and so am I,” said the fashion editor. We wish Anna Dello Russo might have a word with “fur hag” Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue in the U.S. (Plant Based News, Feb. 26, 2018)

WHO WILL EAT ‘FRANKENMEAT’?

So-called “clean meat” or “cultured meat,” may not be such a bad idea – a 1,000-person online survey of American and British consumers found that about a third of the population is willing to eat lab-grown meat. Basically 29 percent said they would, 38 percent said they wouldn’t and the remaining 33 percent said they didn’t know. The survey revealed that vegans were a lot more willing to eat it than carnists and Americans were more receptive than the British. (The Pig Site, Feb. 26, 2018)

DXE FALSELY ACCUSED

DxE protesters were accused of appropriating the phrase “Black Lives Matter” and chanting “Turkey Lives Matter” and “Cow Lives Matter.” A review of a video shot while the activists protested inside of a Madison, Wisconsin grocery store shows that no such appropriation happened. Still, the manager made that accusation and the police, in turn, reported it. No arrests were made and the activists were told they weren’t welcome in the store anymore. (Blavity, Feb. 27, 2018)